Cory Booker: Julian Castro will become first Latino governor of Texas

From left; Newark, N.J., Mayor Cory Booker and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro on stage at a Stanford University alumni event in New York City. (Cory Booker/Instagram)

Call it a meeting of the mutual admiration society or two Democratic young guns basking in the glow of their post-convention stardom. Either way, the combination of Newark, N.J. Mayor Cory Booker and San Antonio Mayor Julian Castro turned quite a few heads last night during a Stanford University alumni event in New York City.

The dynamic duo, both of whom graduated from Stanford in the 1990s and were given featured speaking roles at the Democratic National Convention earlier this month, only stoked the buzz with their bold predictions about one another:

“I think the gentleman sitting to my left will be the first Latino governor of the state of Texas,” Booker said referring to Castro, according to a POLITICO report.

“The demographics are on your side,” Booker said of the growing Hispanic population in Texas. “The work in Texas now is planting seeds for that state to go blue very, very soon. Once the state shifts blue, it changes presidential politics forever.”

Castro’s views on the future of Texas politics were a little more pragmatic than Booker’s prediction that the state will “turn into a blue state for 2014.”

Castro said the Lone Star State would “take a while to change,” and he reaffirmed his commitment to San Antonio, saying he would seek a third and fourth term in office. However, Castro did not leave the event without hamming it up a bit for the audience.

“A [Stanford] Cardinal deal tonight that if you run for governor of New Jersey, I’ll run for governor of Texas,” he said.

Despite being relatively low on the totem pole of national politics, Booker, 43, and especially Castro, 38, have received a great deal of praise and attention from the Democratic party and from the social media world, some even calling for the two to pursue higher office in 2016. (That means the presidency.)

When the topic of a presidential aspirations came up, both were coy. On a night of bold predictions, neither mayor was ready to stake claim to the White House.